MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

9/27 Extra bases

Matt Garza, who is making his last start of the season Tuesday, has the seventh-best ERA in all of baseball since the All-Star break at 2.44. The Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw is tops with a 1.31 ERA.

* Garza is 9-10 in 30 starts this season despite a 3.35 ERA. He’s one of four pitchers in the NL’s Top 14 in ERA with as few as nine wins this season, joining the Nationals’ Jordan Zimmermann (eight wins, 3.18 ERA) and the Mets’ R.A. Dickey (eight wins, 3.28 ERA).

* Garza endured an eight-start stretch from July 2-Aug. 9 during which he was supported with run tallies of 0, 0, 2, 2, 3, 1, 1, 0, going 1-3 with a 3.38 ERA in those games. This year, he has left seven starts with a lead and not factored in the decision, plus a complete-game, 1-0 setback July 2 vs. the White Sox.

* Carlos Peña drew his 100th walk of the year Monday. It’s the 12th such campaign by a Cubs player in the 136-season history of the franchise. Peña is only the 10th different Cub to ever reach the mark, the first since Sammy Sosa did so in 2002 (103) and 2001 (116). In the last 80 years, only four Cubs have reached 100 walks in a season: Peña, Sosa, Gary Matthews (103 in 1984) and Richie Ashburn (116 in 1960). Pena’s career high in walks is 103 in 2007. However, Pena also has struck out 160 times this season. His career high is 166 Ks in ’08.

* In the season finale Wednesday, Ryan Dempster (10-13, 4.53 ERA) will face lefty Wade LeBlanc (4-6, 4.83 ERA). Dempster is 8-4 with a 3.73 ERA in 21 games (12 starts) against the Padres. The Cubs are batting .264 vs. lefties, .254 vs. right-handers this season. Dempster is 0-3 with a 3.34 ERA in five starts in September. He has not won since Aug. 11.

* Sean Marshall has 33 holds, the most by a Cubs pitcher since Carlos Marmol totaled 30 in 2008.

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